Sparkling Wine vs. Champagne | The Wine Company Sparkling Wine vs. Champagne Posted by Jason Kallsen on December 6, 2012 in Champagne , Sparkling wine | 17 comments If you're new to The Wine Company, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed to stay on top of new releases, special announcements, and more. Thanks for visiting! As we roll into the holiday season, we are preparing to hear more of the **pop-pop-pop** of sparkling wine bottles being opened. A question that comes up often is this: what is the difference between “Sparkling Wine” and “Champagne”? We have the easy and short answer for you, but also a longer education on the winemaking process and different styles of sparkling wine. The easy and short answer: A sparkling wine should only be called Champagne if it comes from the region of Champagne, France. Period. Some California producers still attach the word Champagne to their products, but when you think about this it’s odd: if somebody in France produced a wine called “Napa Valley Merlot” it wouldn’t make any sense, would it?

Well, a “Champagne” produced just north of San Francisco is just as guilty. In other words, all Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. (And not all producers are created equally … we have a love affair with our Grower-Producers in particular.) A deeper Sparkling Wine education: Sparkling wine is made by taking the simple formula for fermentation (sugar + yeast = alcohol and CO2), and not allowing the resulting gas to escape. When you ferment wine in a closed or sealed environment, the CO2 returns into the wine, only to be released in the form of tiny bubbles after opening. A fine example of the term “Champagne” NOT being used correctly. The story of how this all started is attributed to the monk Dom Perignon (1638-1715), but in reality it was probably discovered slowly over time by many monks in the Champagne region. Why Champagne? Because it’s cold there … not Minnesota cold , but definitely chilly. These cold temperatures, coupled with deep cellars and lack of insulation, made for a problem: fermentations would begin but would soon shut down due to the cold. Without knowing exactly what was happening, the wines would be bottled.

The following Spring, as the tulips were blooming and the temperature in the cellar was rising, fermentation would kick back into gear. With nowhere for the CO2 to escape, it returned to the wine, eventually building up and proceeding to blow the corks out from the bottles. It was here, as the legend goes, that brother Perignon caught the wine in his glass and proclaimed “Come quick! I am tasting stars!” Today’s methods of making Sparkling Wine are more controlled, but the chemistry is the same. Because this winemaking method was developed in Champagne, and the original rules surrounding the making of this wine belong to that region, we should think of Champagne in terms of a geographical place as opposed to a winemaking style. “Sparkling Wine” is made throughout the world. We’ve had incredible examples recently from Tasmania, Austria, and Oregon. There are also many bubblies produced in France but outside of the Champagne zone, including gems made under the “Cremant” designation. But there is only one true Champagne, from the beautiful region near Paris, France, that brings us producers such as Pierre Gimonnet and Gaston Chiquet .

Soon we will be posting details on other bubbly designations, including Prosecco, Cava, Cremant, and more to help you with your holiday shopping and meal planning. Keep following our blog for updates and more sparkling education. Wine Picks Infographics Apps & Quizzes Etiquette DIY Travel Longform Join Learn About Sparkling Wines Like Champagne, Prosecco & Cava We’ve all tasted sparkling wine, at the very least around the holidays or when celebrating a special occasion, yet many of us have no idea what the difference is between wines such as Champagne, Cava and Prosecco—or how they even get the bubbles into the wine in the first place. Let us explain. There are many legends of how sparkling wine came to be created, but the myth we like best is the story of Monk Dom Perignon. Sparkling wine is a carbonated wine, a wine that has bubbles, which usually takes on the name associated with the region or country specific to where the wine originated . The carbonation in sparkling wine is created using one of two methods: Méthode Champenoise (Champagne method) or Metodo Italiano, which is also known as the Charmat-Martinotti method.

There are many legends of how sparkling wine came to be created, but the myth we like best is the story of Monk Dom Perignon. As the story goes, in the 1600s the monk was making white wine in the Champagne region of France. He decided to bottle the wine he had fermented earlier than usual because, when he checked the fermentation tanks, it seemed to him that the yeast had finished converting all the sugar to alcohol. In fact, the temperature in the Champagne region had become so cold that the yeast in the tanks had simply gone to sleep, even though they weren’t done eating all the sugar. When the spring came and the wine in the bottles began to warm, the yeast woke up and hurriedly began eating all of the leftover sugar. As they ate the sugar, the carbon dioxide they were creating had no place to escape, as it would in a large fermentation tanks, so instead the CO2 was absorbed by the wine, thereby carbonating it. When Dom Perignon went to check on his wine he encountered corks popping all around him; he tasted the wine and loved the results, thus the birth of Champagne.

Since the discovery of the Champagne method, which is often called the traditional method, Champagne has exploded across the world, quickly becoming the most well-known and highly regarded sparkler. While the story of Dom Perignon is a myth, and we’re pretty sure it isn’t true, it is an excellent way to explain the Champagne method. Using this method, Perignon “discovered” that a secondary fermentation in the bottle could be used to create the bubbles we associate with a sparkling wine. Since the discovery of the Champagne method, which is often called the traditional method, Champagne has exploded across the world, quickly becoming the most well-known and highly regarded sparkler. It is for this reason that most other wine regions adopted the method as the way to make sparkling wine, including Spanish Cava. So if the majority of sparkling wine is made using the Champagne method, why don’t we call all sparkling wine Champagne? As you might expect, the French are pretty territorial over the name , allowing only sparkling wine that is actually made in the Champagne region of France to be called Champagne. Just as Kleenex wouldn’t like it if a rival brand referred to their tissue as a Kleenex, the French hate it when wine that is not from Champagne is called Champagne.

This why we had the creation of the name Cava to refer to sparkling wines from Spain. For a long time the Spanish referred to their products as Champagne, knowing that consumers’ familiarity with the name as a quality sparkling wine would benefit their sales, but the French cried foul, and lobbied the EU to forbid any other country from using the name Champagne unless it comes from that region in France. Sparkling wine has four levels of sweetness. The level of sweetness of the wine will be printed directly on the bottle. These levels are: Extra-Brut: This is the driest kind of sparkling wine you can buy. In this type of sparkler, the yeast has eaten absolutely all of the sugar, so there is a complete absence of it in the wine. Brut: This is the most popular type of sparkling wine. The wine is dry, but there is just a hint of sweetness. In this sparkler, the winemaker stopped the fermentation process just before the yeast ate all of the sugar, leaving a tiny amount behind in the wine. Champagne is the most common sparkler to be labeled Brut.

Extra Dry: This type of sparkler is dry, but not as dry as Brut or Extra-Brut, meaning it retains a slight sweetness. It’s not sugary sweet, although they are noticeably sweeter than Brut wines. Prosecco is most often Extra Dry. Demi-sec: This is a sweet sparkling wine. One would usually drink Demi-sec with desert, as there is a prevalent amount of noticeable sugar. While it’s the best known method for making sparkling wine, the Champagne method takes time and can be very expensive, as you have to allow the wine time to ferment in the tank and then again in each individual bottle for a minimum of fifteen months. Looking for a faster and cheaper way to create quality sparkling wine, Frenchman Eugene Charmat and, separately in Italy, Federico Martinotti discovered what is now known as the Charmat-Martinotti method. In this method, the wine is transferred from its first fermentation vat to a large sealed pressurized tank where it undergoes secondary fermentation to create the carbonation. Then the carbonated wine is bottled and shipped to market. This is how all Italian Prosecco is made.

The real difference between the Charmat-Martinotti method and the Champagne method is the ultimate taste of the wine. Wines in the Charmat-Martinotti method tend to be younger and fruitier while wines made using the Champagne method are often drier and less fruity. Keep Reading About Sparkling Wines Wine 101: Sparkling Wines Sparkling Wines ... save the bubbles ... Wines with bubbles are associated, for many people, primarily with festivities and celebrations. More precious and complicated to make than still wines, they have traditionally been considered as occasional extravagances. With higher acidity, more delicate flavor, their unique palate tingle and lower alcohol than most table wines, they are, however, some of the most versatile wines to accompany food. Modern production techniques have brought sparkling wines to market that are more affordable and accessible for everyday enjoyment. Bubbles in wine were known to vintners long before they could reliably capture and preserve this phenomenon in the bottle. As a natural by product of the fermentation process, carbon dioxide is released in the liquid to provide a "sparkle." In the Northern climates, cold weather sometimes arrives early after harvest, stopping fermentation before the sugar is completely used up.

Warm weather in the spring often causes it to start up again, resulting in carbonated wine. The English imported wine in casks. They found also that adding sugar to tart, acidic wine would often soon cause it to sparkle and they developed a liking for it. English bottles were much stronger than those in France and not as inclined to burst when the pressure built up. Early success making sparkling wines in the French district of Champagne made its name famous, so much so that "champagne" has become generic for sparkling wine, to the eternal aggravation of the resident producers. 1 The Champagne Appellation has some of the strictest, most exacting standards for growing, producing and labeling of any area in all the wine world. Cheap American brands have long copied the Champagne name, while ignoring its quality standards and avoiding its exacting methods. Producers of quality American sparkling wine, however, often emulate the standards and apply the traditional production methods, while, out of respect and in deference, they leave the Champagne name to the originals. The European Union continues to support and enforce protecting the Champagne name. The EU established and agreement with Australia to replace "Champagne" with "Australian Sparkling Wine" starting September 1, 2001.

In January, 2008, Belgian customs agents destroyed 270 cases of California sparkling wine destined for Nigeria because it was labeled "André Champagne." 2 BASIC RULES of CHAMPAGNE (since 1927) 1. Growing Area: Champagne Appellation includes less than 78,000 acres of vines (although expansion is currently under consideration) 2. Cépage: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier only. 3. Viticulture: specifies vine spacing (between rows), vine density (between plants), vine height, pruning, and grape yields. 4. Harvest: by hand only, no machine-picking. 5. Bottle Age: 15 months minimum for non-vintage; 3 years for vintage, before release. The Méthode Champenoise involves many specialized steps in both viticulture and enology has taken centuries to evolve, through the contributions of scores of inventors, innovators, and workers, both famous and nameless. Modernization and refinement of the "traditional" sparkling wine process continues to this day, although its beginnings are in antiquity.

Around the 1690s, a Benedictine monk named Dom Perignon made some very significant developments as cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers in Epernay. His celebrated remark "I am drinking stars" brought him great fame, but Dom Perignon did not, in fact, "invent" Champagne. There is even a possibility he may have uttered his phrase, not out of jubilation, but rather from remorse. It is fairly certain that Frere Perignon long attempted to find a way to remove or prevent the bubbles, before he accepted and embraced them. His innovations were probably initiated towards this end. Dom Perignon's contributions did provide the early impetus to eventually develop modern Champagne. He had the idea to harvest selectively, over a period of days rather than all at once, so that only the ripest fruit was taken with each pass. He also is credited with inventing the Coquard or "basket" wine press and using it to make the first "Blanc de Noir." Another of his major developments was to blend wines of different vineyards and varieties to achieve better balance between their individual characteristics.

He was an excellent taster and his cuvée system is still followed closely to this day by the house of Moêt & Chandon to produce their finest Champagne. Finally, although corks had already been used by the Romans as closures for wine bottles, and the seagoing and trading English had corks and made sparkling wine several decades earlier than the landlocked Champagne area, Dom Perignon has been credited with the idea of using string to secure these stoppers in the bottles, thus retaining the sparkle for long periods of time. Methode Champenoise Methode Champenoise would not be as we know it without the significant developments and improvements made by many persons during the Nineteenth Century, including Jean-Antoine Chaptal (quantified the proper amount of sugar to set the alcoholic strength, c. 1801), Madame Nicole-Barbe Clicquot (inventor of riddling and dégorgement, c. 1810), Jules Guyot (pioneer of planting vines in rows, training vines onto trellises, and pruning methods, c.

1835) Adolphe Jacquesson (inventor of the muselet, the wire cage/metal cap 3 contraption that retains sparkling wine corks, c. 1844), and more. Cuvée The only varietals allowed for (French) Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir. Blanc de Blancs on labels designates white wine made only from white (green) grapes; Blanc de Noirs is white or sometimes faintly pink wine made only from black (red) grapes. Rosé Champagne may be made by blending a small amount of red wine into a white wine base, but the finest are made by crushing the red grapes into a tank briefly to extract a bit of color prior to separating the juice from the pigment-containing skins, along with the pulp and seeds, by pressing. The grape harvest for sparkling wine is always early in the season compared to the picking of still wines. Picking when sugars are relatively low keeps the alcohol low, since secondary fermentation will boost it later. Also, the youthful acids help to preserve the wine over the long course of its development.

Except for those destined to be made into Rosé, the grapes are pressed immediately, by-passing the crushing equipment, to avoid both oxidation and color in the wine. Initial fermentation takes place most often in stainless steel tanks, although many varieties of container, from concrete vats to redwood tanks, are used. After the usual period of three weeks or more, when all of the natural grape sugar has been converted to alcohol, the wine is "dry." While the wine rests in a cold environment, solids and particles settle to the bottom. The clear wine on top is then racked or siphoned off the murky lees. Sometimes it is aged in oak barrels during or after this clarification and racking. The new wine is quite weak in flavor, very tart and low in alcohol. It may then be blended with stocks of older wine saved from previous vintages, to keep a consistent "house" style, or cuvée. En Tirage At bottling, a small amount of sugar that has been dissolved in old wine, along with special yeast is added. This liqueur de tirage assures a uniform secondary fermentation in the bottles. Until the application of three scientific contributions, making sparkling wine could be more dangerous than making bombs.

The proper amount of sugar to add for balanced wine was quantified by Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1801; Pharmacist André François invented, in 1836, a way to measure the remaining amount of sugar in wine; and Pasteur explained the fermentation process in 1857. Some producers now insert a small plastic reservoir, called a bidule, which later aids in collecting and removing the sediment. After closing with cork-lined metal crown caps, the bottles are stored on their sides in cool cellars while the yeast ferments the sugar, boosting the alcohol and producing the bubbles of carbon dioxide. At this point, the wine is only half made, although the wine will become complete and reach the consumer in this very same bottle. The cuvée is now en tirage. This phase may span from two to several years. Meantime, the bottle stacks are observed for the inevitable breakage that occurs; flawed glass is sometimes unable to withstand the pressure that gradually increases to 100 pounds or more per square inch. Remuage During the secondary fermentation, sediments form from dead yeast and solids left behind during the initial clarification procedures.

Consolidating the sediments for removal is another long process, known as remuage. This sediment is very fine, sludgy and sticky. Removing it from the bottle, without removing the wine, is a problem. Getting it to collect in the neck, near the opening, is the first step. In 1805, Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin Clicquot, became a young widow and head of a major Champagne house. Seeking assistance from gravity, she cut holes in her kitchen table, in order to invert the bottles. She found that shaking helped loosen the sediments, although some still stuck to the bottle bottoms. In 1810, she employed Antoine Muller and he improved the procedure by beginning with the bottle at a 45° angle, gradually increasing the angle with each shaking, until the bottom was up, the neck straight down. Traditionally, the bottles are placed at a forty-five degree angle, necks-down, in specially built "A-frame" racks, called pupitres. An experienced worker grabs the bottom of each bottle, giving it a small shake, an abrupt back and forth twist, and a slight increase in tilt, letting it drop back in the rack.

This action, called riddling, recurs every one to three days over a period of several weeks. The shaking and twist is intended dislodge particles that have clung to the glass and prevent the sediments from caking in one spot; the tilt and drop encourage the particles, assisted by gravity, to move ever more downward; the time in between riddlings allows the particles to settle out of solution again. Computer-automated machines called Gyropalettes accomplish the riddling chore in batches, using movable bins containing hundreds of bottles rather than by the individual bottle. Invented in Spain, they became common in all sparkling wine producing countries the late 1970s. This mechanization has meant saving time, space and production cost for the producers. Hand riddling requires a minimum of eight weeks to complete; gyropalettes finish the task in under ten days. While automation means that a bit of the romance of wine is lost for consumers, this application of modern technology compensates by increasing product consistency from bottle to bottle. Production cost savings also has allowed the introduction of traditional method sparkling wines into the lower price end of the market where formerly only bulk or mass-produced wines competed.

Whether riddled by hand or machine, in the end, the bottles are standing nearly straight upside down, with the sediment now resting on the caps. Kept in this position, the bottles are transferred to bins where they are stored, necks down, until ready for shipping to market. The final operations that ready the wine for sale are removing the sediment formed during aging, topping up the contents, adjusting the sweetness level to the house style, replacing the crown caps with corks, wire hoods, and finally, applying foils and labels just before packing the bottles in cases for shipment. Dégorgement Removing the sediment from the bottles is a process called dégorgement, or disgorging. The bottle necks are dipped in a solution of freezing brine or glycol. This freezes a plug of wine and sediment in the top of the neck. Skilled workers then invert each bottle as they uncap it, releasing a small amount of wine as the plug of frozen sediment flies out. The bottle is then topped up with a dosage of reserve wine, sweetened to the right amount for the determined style, also known as the liqueur d'expedition. Modern bottling lines accomplish these tasks mechanically with amazing speed and precision.

Méthode Champenoise takes normally from two to five years to complete, depending on the house style. In addition to the normal smell and taste criteria of still wine, sparkling wine quality is judged by the size of the bubbles (smaller is better), their persistence (long-lasting is better) and their mouth feel (how well the bubbles are integrated into the wine and the relative smoothness or coarseness of their texture). Traditional disgorging at Schramsberg, 1977 ( click to enlarge ) Shortcuts to Bubbly Ends There are, in fact, other processes to put the sparkle in wine. Techniques have been developed that are very different and, many would argue, inferior to the Méthode Champenoise, based on sensory judgment. Twentieth century technology brought, besides injected carbonation, the Charmat or "bulk" process, and the "transfer" process. Sparkling wine made by the transfer process, follows the same procedure as Méthode Champenoise, up to the point of bottling. The secondary fermentation does not take place in the actual bottle sold to the customer. The wine is bottled as would be for en tirage.

However, after a short time following secondary fermentation, those fermentation bottles are emptied under pressure and the wine filtered into tanks. This replaces the rémuage, riddling, and dégorgement steps. The transferred wine is then bottled under pressure into a new set of bottles that are shipped to market. The French use only Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir to produce Champagne. Many American producers of quality sparkling wines adhere to this list, although very little Meunier is grown here. Other sparkling wine producers worldwide can and do use anything from Thompson Seedless to various clones of Muscat. The Transfer Method, invented in Germany, does not have a proprietary name (possibly because no individual or commercial entity would claim it). On wines sold in the United States, it is only announced by a deceptively subtle packaging regulation: the label statement "Fermented in this bottle" means Méthode Champenoise, whereas "Fermented in the bottle" refers to the transfer process ... so much for reading the fine print. Transfer is considerably less expensive and time-consuming than Méthode Champenoise.

It begins much as Methode Champenoise up until aging en tirage, but after a short time in the bottles, they are emptied into a pressurized tank to be finished and bottled. The transfer method goes from harvest to bottling in as little as ninety days on up to one year. Proponents claim the transfer method produces a more consistent product from bottle to bottle; detractors say the process strips flavor elements, especially yeast flavors. In spite of this criticism, even genuine Champagne producers generally use the transfer method for any size bottle either smaller than 750 milliliter or larger than 1.5 liter. Eugene Charmat, a Frenchman, adopted a process in 1907, that was invented twelve years earlier by Federico Martinotti, an Italian. Instead of individual bottles to produce the secondary fermentation, they used glass-lined pressure-capable tanks for the entire process. The wine stays under constant pressure in bulk, through the filtering and bottling process, which takes as little as ninety days from picking to bottling. For decades, Charmat was the popular term (because it sounds French?) for the Bulk Process in the United States.

As Prosecco popularity and production have risen in the New Millennium, most recent references are now to the Italian Method. Both the transfer process and Italian method are time and money savers. There are knowledgeable wine critics who contend that the different manners of producing sparking wine can each produce equal quality product given the same fruit to begin with. These critics are in the minority and commercial attempts at high quality bulk process sparklers are few and far between, although Prosecco fans might take exception. Differences between the processes are readily noticeable in their end products. Both the transfer and bulk wines usually have larger, less-long-lasting bubbles. Méthode Champenoise bubbles are usually more integrated into the wine and longer lasting. Also, because of the additional time Méthode Champenoise takes to clear the wine of sediment, the flavors of yeast autolysis (chemical breakdown) add complexity and a creaminess to the wine that is absent in the faster methods. SPARKLING WINE SWEETNESS Dom Perignon Brut Champagne 2006 WS 95 This product does NOT include a gift box As legend has it, the Benedictine Monk, Dom Periginon invented Champagne. That is not the whole story. A few facts first.

Champagne is 3 different things; First, it is a sparkling wine made in France. Second, It is a geographic area in France about 1 hour from Paris, and the only area where Champagne, the wine, can be produced. Finally it is a name associated with large deposits of limestone (chalk) in the earth. This deposit is present in the Champagne region, but is also found in Cognac. The Cognac region has an area referred to as Fine Champagne. These Cognacs are not made with Champagne (the drink), but the grapes used in production comes from an area which also has a large Limestone layer. The first commercial sparkling wine was produced in the Limoux area of France about 1535. They did not invent sparkling wine, no-one knows who first made it. Dom Perignon, the man, was born about 1638. His full name was Pierre Perignon. He was a Benedictine Monk at the Abbey of Hautville near Riems in France. Wine was already being made in the Champagne region before Pierre was born. Dom Perignon's legacy to the world was a procedure for production of Champagne.

This included riddling the ageing bottles so the sediment can be removed, adding a dosage for a secondary fermentation, and use of corks to seal the bottles. These steps combined with the availabilty of stronger bottles which could hold the added pressure, allowed the commercial production of Champagne to begin in about 1700. Dom Perignon died in 1716. His famous statement "I see stars" was uttered upon his first taste of Champagne. Dom Perignon, the Champagne, was first produced in 1936. Moet et Chandon which purchased the Abbey of Hautville 120 years earlier produced a super cuvee which celebrated the Monk's exploits. The Champagne is only produced in exceptional vintages; in 2 styles, the Brut and the Brut Rose and in 2 sizes, 750ml bottle and 1.5Liter bottle. The name has become synonomous with class and stature. A gift of Dom Perignon will express that only the best will do.

Reviews: "A graceful, minerally version, featuring rich notes of smoke, mandarin orange peel and chalk that lead to subtle accents of cr�me de cassis, toasted almond, espresso and star anise on the fine, creamy mousse. Seamlessly knit, with citrusy acidity leaving a mouthwatering impression on the finish. Drink now through 2031. " -Rated 95, Wine Spectator Dom Perignon Rose Champagne [ Home > Dom Perignon Rose Champagne ] rws24401 Email Me When This Item Returns (Your Email) Size: 750ml. As legend has it, the Benedictine Monk, Dom Periginon invented Champagne. That is not the whole story. A few facts first. Champagne is 3 different things; First, it is a sparkling wine made in France. Second, It is a geographic area in France about 1 hour from Paris, and the only area where Champagne, the wine, can be produced. Finally it is a name associated with large deposits of limestone (chalk) in the earth. This deposit is present in the Champagne region, but is also found in Cognac.

The Cognac region has an area referred to as Fine Champagne. These Cognacs are not made with Champagne (the drink), but the grapes used in production comes from an area which also has a large Limestone layer. The first commercial sparkling wine was produced in the Limoux area of France about 1535. They did not invent sparkling wine, no-one knows who first made it. Dom Perignon, the man, was born about 1638. His full name was Pierre Perignon. He was a Benedictine Monk at the Abbey of Hautville near Riems in France. Wine was already being made in the Champagne region before Pierre was born. Dom Perignon's legacy to the world was a procedure for production of Champagne. This included riddling the ageing bottles so the sediment can be removed, adding a dosage for a secondary fermentation, and use of corks to seal the bottles. These steps combined with the availabilty of stronger bottles which could hold the added pressure, allowed the commercial production of Champagne to begin in about 1700. Dom Perignon died in 1716. His famous statement "I see stars" was uttered upon his first taste of Champagne.

Dom Perignon, the Champagne, was first produced in 1936. Moet et Chandon which purchased the Abbey of Hautville 120 years earlier produced a super cuvee which celebrated the Monk's exploits. The Champagne is only produced in exceptional vintages; in 2 styles, the Brut and the Brut Rose and in 2 sizes, 750ml bottle and 1.5Liter bottle. The name has become synonomous with class and stature. A gift of Dom Perignon will express that only the best will due. N.V. Ruinart Brut Rosé - Item 5395871 - WineBid N.V. Ruinart Brut Rosé Favorite Favorite Ruinart Ruinart is a historic Champagne domaine in Reims. It was founded in the early 18th century by Nicolas Ruinart, who named it after his uncle the monk Dom Thierry Ruinart, who was an early advocate for the sparkling wines of Champagne. The estate refers to itself as the first true Champagne producing domain, having shipped its first commercial vintage in 1730. Today Ruinart is part of the LVMH empire of luxury goods.

The estate does not own its own vineyards but obtains its grapes from growers who control some 650 acres of vineyards. About 2.5 million bottles are produced annually. The prestige cuvee is the 100% Chardonnay Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc, though the estate also makes well-regarded roses and non-vintage Champagnes. REGION Champagne Champagne is a small, beautiful wine growing region northeast of Paris whose famous name is misused a million times a day. As wine enthusiasts and all French people are well aware, only sparkling wines produced in Champagne from grapes grown in Champagne can be called Champagne. Sparkling wines produced anywhere else, including in other parts of France, must be called something besides Champagne. Champagne producers are justifiably protective of their wines and the prestige associated with true Champagne. Though the region was growing grapes and making wines in ancient times, it began specializing in sparkling wine in the 17th century, when a Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon formulated a set guidelines to improve the quality of the local sparkling wines.

Despite legends to the contrary, Dom Pérignon did not “invent” sparkling wine, but his rules about aggressive pruning, small yields and multiple pressings of the grapes were widely adopted, and by the 18th and 19th centuries Champagne had become the wine of choice in fashionable courts and palaces throughout Europe. Today there are 75,000 acres of vineyards in Champagne growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Champagne’s official appellation system classifies villages as Grand Cru or Premier Cru, though there are also many excellent Champagnes that simply carry the regional appellation. Along with well-known international Champagne houses there are numerous so-called “producer Champagnes,” meaning wines made by families who, usually for several or more generations, have worked their own vineyards and produced Champagne only from their own grapes. TYPE Champagne | The Story : The Good Life France Written by Janine Marsh on August 3, 2013 in French Icons , Wine and Drinks Champagne is a sparkling wine made in Champagne in France – if it is made anywhere else in France or the world it cannot be called Champagne.

It doesn’t matter if a wine producer uses the same grape, the same blend, the same method as the Champagne of the Champagne region – it cannot have the same name. What is it that makes Champagne so special? Reims Cathedral CC Reims Tourisme Carmen Moya Champagne is the drink of the great and the good and has been since it was first produced. “Champagne…the wine of kings, the king of wines.” – Guy du Maupaussant Reims in Champagne was where traditionally the coronation of French Kings took place. The First King to be crowned in Reims Cathedral was King Louis I in 861; from then on, all French Kings were crowned here – with the exception of Louis VI (Orleans) and Henri VI (Chartres) and Champagne became the wine of the coronation. The wines of Champagne which had been introduced by the Romans several centuries before, would have been served at ceremonies in Reims but it was not until the 17th Century that the sparkling wine known as Champagne became well known. It was lapped up by the great and the good.

It was unique, a sparkling wine that was refreshing, delicious and made people happy – almost immediately it became associated with royalty, wealth and luxury – a tag that it still carries to this day. Louis XV’s mistress Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764) once said “Champagne is the only wine that leaves a woman beautiful after drinking it.” and countless celebrities have endorsed it throughout the centuries. History of Champagne “Come brothers, hurry, I am drinking stars!” Attributed to Dom Perignon, the monk who is said to have invented Champagne. He probably didn’t say that, and he can’t really be credited with inventing Champagne but what a fabulous marketing story it is! Dom Perignon was a French Benedictine monk who served at the Abbey of Hautvillers near Épernay. He worked in the Abbey cellars for almost 50 years and during his care the Abbey doubled the size of its vineyard holding. Sparkling wine was known to the French but it was a hit and miss affair with bottles of wine just as likely to explode as not.

Dom Perignon worked on methods to improve the maturation of wines and the blending of different grapes and the pruning of the vines, but – he didn’t in fact invent Champagne and it seems likely he spent much of his time trying to rid the wine produced by the Abbey of bubbles. Hautvillers where Dom Perignon lies buried It may surprise you to know that the English had quite a lot to do with the success of Champagne sparkling wine. Imports of the still wine of Champagne to England in the 17th Century were extensive and thanks to primitive bottling methods, in some bottles refermentation took place and produced bubbles. The wealthy English importers liked the taste of the bubbles in the pale wine that induced a feeling of elation and proactively sought methods to produce it. Scientific tests have shown that Champagne does have more of an effect than wine without bubbles though no one is quite sure why. The popularity of this “happy drink” spread, and the astute producers in the Champagne region laid claim to the name and the right to be the only ones to be legally authorised to produce a sparkling wine called Champagne (ratified by the Treaty of Madrid 1981).

The marketing of Champagne has always been of the highest quality and remains so to this day. Like diamonds, the price never falls but keeps climbing and availability is strictly controlled. Related Articles Fact or Folklore: The Legend of Dom Perignon and Champagne Fact or Folklore: The Legend of Dom Perignon and Champagne Monday, May 20, 2013 at 7:54 pm Graeme Sutherland The monk Dom Perignon was the first to make Champagne: Folklore! In actual fact, Dom Perignon (1638-1715) hated bubbles. They were seen as a corruption in the wine. Since the 13th century, the wine being produced in Champagne was a light red wine, similar to that produced in Burgundy. It was only in 1668 that this wine began to gain popularity, and it was because of Dom Perignon, the newly appointed procureur of the abbey of Hautvilliers. Rather than thanking him for Champagne as we know it today, we should be thanking him for revolutionizing the wine-making process that allows all modern day wine to be as sophisticated as it has now become. And you can learn all about this revolutionary process on our Champagne bike tour !

The vineyards of Champagne Dom Pierre Perignon came from a fairly wealthy family, but made the decision to become a monk at the age of 18, entering the Benedictine monastery of Saint Vanne. Saint Vanne had recently assumed control over the dilapidated abbey of Hautvillers, which had suffered a propitious decline in the past century. As part of its revitalization, Dom Perignon was put in charge of managing the abbey’s principle source of income; its vines. It was in this position that Dom Perignon excelled. Over the course of his tenure as procureur and cellar master at Hautvillers, Dom Perignon established many of the fundamental practices of grape harvesting that remain important today. They include using only the best grapes and discarding those that are damaged, pruning vines in the spring to avoid overproduction, picking in the cool temperatures of the morning, and keeping the juices from each pressing separate. Along with his famed ability to mix grapes with delicacy and balance in order to create a more harmonious blend, these practices resulted in a sharp leap in quality in the red wine produced by Hautvillers.

Cellar master at Hautvillers This new red wine was so good that it became the favourite of Louis XIV (1638-1715), the Sun King himself. To bring France’s nobility under his heel, Louis XIV is famous for ritualizing his own day-to-day routines, such as waking up or going to bed. He made attendance at these rituals a social and cultural necessity for the nobility. If you did not attend, you were not considered part of the King’s court. If you did attend, your importance in the ritual became a direct reflection of your value to the King. As a result, anything and everything that the Sun King did became an immediate social trend in France, as nobles vied with each other to demonstrate who followed the King’s activities with the most attention. So, when Louis XIV declared that Dom Perignon’s red wine was the best in France, French nobility followed suit, and thence begins the rise of Champagne’s reputation as a region of France renowned for its wine .

It was not until later in the 18th century, many decades after Dom Perignon worked at Hautvillers, that the wine in Champagne began its transformation into the effervescent wine we know it as today. The big change occurred when bubbles were suddenly declared good for your health, which suddenly opened a large and eager market for this new sparkling wine. For the ambitious Champenois vignerons, who had recently been enjoying some success in finally harnessing those pesky bubbles, this change marked the beginning of a new era. Even though the real source of the bubbles- yeast- was not discovered until 1857 by Louis Pasteur, the first bottles of effervescent Champagne started dazzling the people of Europe by the early 1700s. The evolution into champagne as we know it So where does this leave Dom Perignon, the hard-working monk who first brought Champagne into the wine-light? Well, just as Champagne is sought out to mark special occasions and celebrations, so too was our pour monk sought out when a party was desperately needed; during the Great Depression.

In the 1930s, when misery was at an all-time low in Champagne, a group of creative Champenois got together and decided to throw a three-day party to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Dom Perignon’s invention of Champagne. Ignoring all of the glaring historical errors that laid at the foundation of this anniversary, the party served its purpose; Champagne sales went up! Not only that, but Dom Perignon himself also experienced a rise to stardom. Before this anniversary, he was scarcely known, but afterwards, he became a legend. So come explore this legend and enjoy the fruits of his labor on our bike tour in Champagne . What is the difference between "Champagne" and "Sparkling Wine"? - Le Grand Courtâge Le Grand Courtâge What is the difference between “Champagne” and “Sparkling Wine”? Posted by Tawnya Falkner on Jan 20, 2017 As we roll into the holiday season, we will hear many more corks “popping” as bottles of sparkling wine and champagne are opened to celebrate the season. A question that we are often asked is, “What is the difference between “Sparkling Wine” and “Champagne”?

The easy and short answer is that sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it comes from the region of Champagne, France, which is just outside of Paris. Further, champagne can only be made using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. To clarify, all champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is champagne. We really should think of Champagne in terms of a geographical place as opposed to a winemaking style. Where do the Bubbles come from?: Sparkling wine is made by taking the simple formula for fermentation (sugar + yeast = alcohol and CO2), and not allowing the resulting gas to escape. When you ferment wine in a closed or sealed environment, the carbon dioxide (CO2) returns into the wine, only to be released in the form of tiny bubbles after opening. Origins: The story of how this all started is attributed to the monk Dom Perignon (1638-1715), who is noted to have said, “Come quickly, I’m seeing stars.”, but in reality it was probably discovered slowly over time by many monks in the Champagne region.

Types of Sparkling Wine: Producers from every other region of the world have seized this moment to shine given the popularity of the bubbly and the rising cost of champagne. In Spain, cava is made in many different styles, but the best examples have small bubbles and balance freshness with creaminess. The wines that sparkle in Italy—or more specifically the Veneto region of Italy—are called Prosecco and have larger bubbles (better for cocktails) and a focus on the fruit. In Austria and Germany, where they call them Sekt (pronounced zekt). Now you see great sparkling producers in Tazmania, Argentina, Australia, and of course the U.S. Three Hallmarks of a Good Sparkler: Fresh: Bright and alive in your mouth, fruity but not necessarily sweet. Precise: On the tongue, the wine should feel direct and penetrating. Precision is more about the acid, which is mandatory for good sparkling wines. Sparkling: Small bubbles are a sign of high-quality wine.

Whether sparkling wine or champagne, the truth is that sparkling wine is gaining in popularity as people realize that it is the most versatile wine for pairing (aka the scrubbing bubbles for the palate) and transitions beautifully from breakfast to dessert and light dishes to fried foods, spicy cuisine or rich, sauces. They’re also great as aperitifs and with dishes that have a bit of fruitiness or sweet. Le Grand Courtage is a gold-medal winning, French sparkling wine produced in Nuits St Georges in Burgundy, France. We offer a Blanc de Blancs Brut and a Brut Rose and use Chardonnay, Ugni Blanc, Colombard, Chenin Blanc and Gamay in our blends in order to offer a dry, crisp, light palate with just a hint of fruit and floral on the finish in order to create a balanced and rounded taste profile. We wanted to create something which is extremely cuisine and cocktail friendly. Our goal was to offer a French cachet and elegance, combined with an American appeal and price-point. We set out to create an approachable, affordable, versatile French bubbly that is perfect for all of life’s occasions and every day moments. Cheers!!!

Question: What was the name of the monk who first produced sparkling wine
Answer: Dom Perignon